The show is Here You Come Again, the new Dolly Parton musical, and it’s at Chichester Festival Theatre from Tuesday to Saturday, November 12-16.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers, lovely to
00:06speak to Stephen Webb. Really exciting news, the show coming to the Festival Theatre, Chichester
00:11Festival Theatre, before too long is here, you come again, billed as the new Dolly Parton musical,
00:17all the greatest hits, all the rights to them. And Stephen, you're playing in the publicity,
00:21it describes you as a has-been who never was, is that a bit harsh?
00:26Well, it's a has-been who never was comedian, that's the character. He's one of those people,
00:32he aspires to be a stand-up comedian and he tries that out on the audience on occasion,
00:39doesn't go brilliantly because he's one of those people, and I know these people in life, who
00:43when they try to be funny, it falls completely flat, but they don't realise naturally
00:48they are pretty hilarious, but he just can't make the two meet, unfortunately.
00:52And so, yeah, he's a has-been who never was, he had one go at being a stand-up,
00:58but in the show we mentioned that when he had his moment, it turns out Peter Kaye was in town and
01:04wanted to try out new material and he went on just before him, so he had to follow Peter Kaye and so
01:08it just was a disaster. And the poor chap is having a pretty awful time in other respects too,
01:13he's at a real low point and this is the context in which Dolly appears to him and helps him,
01:20yeah, he's at his rock bottom, he's just gone through a breakup, he's lost his job,
01:26he's having to isolate because it's during the first Covid lockdown, he's had to move back from
01:30London to Halifax to his parents' attic and he can't even mix with them downstairs, so he's
01:34completely on his own and isolated, cannot see a way out of it, and in his time of need, Dolly
01:40Parton herself literally bursts through a poster of Dolly Parton on the wall and picks him up by
01:47his bootstraps. And the great thing about Dolly, I always think, and her outlook on life is she's
01:51about tough love, she's not about handouts, she's the sort of person that's like, well, if you're
01:56sad about this, sort it out, do something, make a change in your life rather than going, oh, I'm so
02:01sorry. She's more like, well, if you're not happy with something, you know what to do. And so through
02:05that sort of tough love, she teaches him lessons and changes his outlook and where to focus and he
02:13sorts it out. And you're saying it doesn't matter how you are at the start of the show,
02:18you'll certainly be up on your feet and loving it and joyously uplifted by the end.
02:24Yeah, even when we had the husbands who have been dragged along, who don't want to go and
02:30see a Dolly Parton musical, they're the first up on their feet at the end, they always are,
02:35and they're singing out to nine to five because it's really a show for everyone and it doesn't
02:39follow the norm in terms of a quote unquote jukebox musical. It subverts that idea. So it's
02:48not about Dolly Parton and her story, although her stories are in there to help Kevin through,
02:52help him relate how she's overcome things, he can relate and overcome his own. But it's about Kevin
02:58and Dolly Parton is his guide, his almost fairy godmother, or this kind of oracle of light and
03:08love and positivity for him. You're selling it brilliantly. It sounds a fantastic show.
03:14After we've all done our own nine to five, we'll be there watching at the Festival Theatre
03:18in November. Yes, good. Lovely to speak to you. Thank you for your time. You too. Can't wait.